Chapter 17 Chapter Thirteen 2005: Approaching the Grand Slam

In 2004, I missed the U.S. Open qualifiers because my team didn't sign up. I was very depressed, but the result was irreversible, so I had to return to China full of melancholy.I didn't expect to lose the east corner and harvest the mulberry elm.Although I missed the 2004 US Open, I got a wild card for the 2005 Australian Open by accident. 2004 was the year of the Olympic Games. Because of my good performance before, I was selected into the national team and served as a training partner for the national Olympic team members.After that, the national team gave me and another girl the opportunity to go to Uzbekistan for the Asian Championships.I went to Uzbekistan, and with very little fuss, I went straight to the championship.According to my world ranking at the time, I could only qualify for the Australian Open first.But because I won the Asian Championship, I have a chance to get a wild card for the Australian Open next year.

After winning the championship, I didn't think too much about it. As soon as the awards ceremony was over, I hurried out and called Jiang Shan, telling him: I can go home tomorrow! There is a time difference of more than two hours between Uzbekistan and China. When I called, it was after 3:00 Beijing time, and Jiang Shan was still in class at Huazhong University of Science and Technology.He slipped to the corridor to answer the phone, didn't say much in a hurry, just said: "Okay, I'm in class." He looked like "don't interfere with my study". He had been busy with his studies during that time, and there were at least four or five months before the start of the Australian Open. "Australian Open" was just an abstract concept for both of us.Thinking about it many years later, I said to Jiang Shan: "You see, I was quite calm at that time."

He dismissed it, "You didn't react, did you?" In fact, it really didn't respond.I remember having a vague surprise in my heart at the time, but I was not quite sure what was waiting for me ahead.It wasn't until the Australian Open sent me the wild card that I suddenly realized: "I'm going to play the Australian Open!" This is the first time in my life that I have been this close to a Grand Slam.Thinking about it now, it was really a milestone moment.What is the goal of a professional player?Is to participate in the competition.What is the most important event in tennis?It's a grand slam!

I suddenly felt full of strength. In late January 2005, I entered the Australian Open lineup directly with that wild card. This was the first time I played in the main draw of the four major open tournaments.After the start, I was in good shape and won two rounds in a row. After defeating the No. 28 seeded Japanese player Asakoshi Jirob, I entered the third round. They told me that this round I will face the famous Sharapova. Sharapova had just won the Wimbledon championship at the time and was in full swing.Our match was played on Rod Lavelle Center Court, the first time I played on the center court of a major Open.

According to the regulations, we have to wait for others to take us into the field before the game starts.At that time, I was extremely nervous. There were photos of players who had won the Australian Open trophy on both sides of the aisle entering the court, but I had no intention of admiring them at all.With a blank mind, he mechanically walked into the field.Later Li Ting told me that I was so nervous that I even changed my walking posture. I heard the radio say, "Now we welcome Li Na from China." But I couldn't feel anything but nervous. Rod Lavelle Center Court stood proudly in front of me, magnificent and unfathomable.This building is very characteristic, the roof can be opened and closed freely.Standing on the field, I suddenly felt that this field was very similar to the Colosseum in ancient Rome. The shouts of the audience whizzed past my head like a tornado. They were calling for their invincible queen, and I was the unlucky gladiator. , the racket in my hand was like a red cloth to attract bulls, but I forgot to bring my spear.

This court left a deep impression on me. I think it is so big. It is like the Titanic in tennis courts. It is so huge that it is shockingly huge, and it seems to surpass any venue I have played in the past. "How can there be such a big venue?" That's the only question I can think of when I'm standing on the field. Sharapova was ranked higher than me, so she entered the arena late, and there was thunderous applause when she entered.Sharapova was already famous at the time, and her fans in the venue almost filled the entire stadium, and there were very few empty seats as far as the eye could see.I raised my head and looked up, only to feel that there were noisy crowds everywhere above my head, and the black heads almost reached the seats on the ceiling.Later I learned that the Rod Lavelle Center Stadium is very famous in the local area. It can hold a full 15,000 people, but at that time, even if you said that this stadium can hold 100,000 people, I would immediately believe it.

I can feel my nervousness, but I don't know how to relieve my nervousness.I remember putting down my tennis bag with a pretentious air of fearlessness, then picking up my racket and walking over to the umpire to hear the rules of the game read. During this period Sharapova's supporters have been chanting her name.From time to time, flashes of light swept across the stands. We separated the two sides of the site and played for 5 minutes.Game start! I only won two games in that match and lost it very quickly. It was almost the fastest loss I have ever played in tennis. I wasn't even sad, I was just nervous, very nervous.When I walked down the aisle into the dugout room after the game, I saw my hands were still shaking.

That tension runs deep into the marrow. After every game there is a press conference, and after that game, as usual, reporters flocked to ask me how I was feeling. I said that I just felt that the venue was too big and there was no way to adapt to it.It was the first time I saw such a big field, and I had no idea how to do it on the field. I think the well-informed reporter may have secretly laughed inwardly at the time.Then they asked me: "So how are you going to fit in?" I said: I can only adapt slowly. The more games I play, the more experience I have accumulated, and I will adapt naturally.

This Australian Open trip is over.I comforted myself that no matter what, I was close to the Grand Slam and saw the gap between myself and the world's top players. Interestingly, when I entered the Australian Open in 2011, I also experienced a lot of competitions on the center court. I also went to the center court to train several times before the game.Revisiting the old place, I suddenly discovered that this place is not that big!How could it feel so big at that time? Perhaps the venue has never changed, what changes is the human heart.Maybe it's the result of struggling in this circle for the past few years.

After the Australian Open, I played a series of international open tournaments.Before retiring, I basically played small ITF games. After retiring for two years and coming back, I found the feeling and started to continue to play WTA games, and my results improved steadily.That seemed to be the most smooth period for me. The desire that had been silent in my body for two years suddenly awakened. Although I have not yet entered the core of the international tennis scene, the thriving trend is visible. During that time, I made rapid progress. I defeated the famous player Safina in the Estoril Tour in Portugal and reached the final; Two singles victories including Nick; in the Toronto Premier Tournament, I defeated Jankovic, who was ranked 18 in the world at the time, and successfully advanced. This is the first time I have defeated a TOP20 player.Slowly I found that I could also beat some of the top players in the world, and my self-confidence increased accordingly.

In late August 2005, I went to the US Open for the first time. The US Open is also one of the four major open tournaments. At this time, I am no longer Wuxia Amon, and I am no longer afraid of the center court of the Grand Slam. up. It is a pity that the signing of this competition was not good. In the first round, they met Davenport, the world's number one seed at the time.The American veteran was very brave in his homeland, and I also got rid of the greenness of the Australian Open and played very hard.Although I lost the game with two 4:6 in the end, I am basically satisfied with my performance. I have a feeling of intimacy with the United States, which may be the reason why I came here to study for 10 months when I was a teenager. It was very comfortable for my ears to listen to the carefree American English spoken by the people around me.Although the United States does not have the beauty of European cities that have experienced the vicissitudes of life, it is very lively. This is a young and lively country. The Arthur Ashwand Stadium at the US Open is the largest center court of the four Open tournaments. When I played the game, I already felt that the venue was very big-it was not the impression of "big" like the central court of the Australian Open. The area of ​​​​this court was indeed unusually large.There was an interview with CCTV 5. We were standing on the top platform of the central venue to chat. This was the first time I stood on the platform of this venue. When I looked down, I was a little terrified.A reporter from CCTV told me that for security reasons, there were snipers on the center field.A dozen or so snipers were lurking around the field, and it was quite hair-raising to think about it. The US Tennis court is very close to the airport, so there is noise.However, during the game, the airport will guarantee about two weeks to allow the plane to bypass other routes so as not to affect the performance of the players.I'm afraid of noise when playing golf, but I don't hate the sound of airplanes.When I was studying at a tennis school in Texas, there were often planes flying over the court. At that time, I still fantasized that this might be an Air China plane. I could fly all the way back to Wuhan when I got on it, so I heard this familiar noise. I didn't feel irritated when I was playing, it was like a little secret buried on the US Open court when I was a teenager.